10
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How did Edith Hamilton become interested in transcribing her famous Greek myths?
We can trace out some possible answers to this by examining the history of her life.
Her father encouraged her interest in the classics from an early age.
"My father was well-to-do, but he wasn'...
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9
votes
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In Homer's Odyssey, how can the one-eyed Cyclops have multiple brows?
This issue has been puzzling commentators for thousands of years, if we take it broadly as "how many eyes did Homer think Polyphemus had, and why?"
The Greek text of Odyssey 9.389 uses the ...
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9
votes
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How much of The Song of Wandering Aengus by Yeats is based on Irish folklore?
This is not meant to be definitive nor exhaustive, but merely an exploration of certain themes and symbols in the poem:
Yeats is widely regarded as one of the great poets of the ages--Eliot ...
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8
votes
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Are there significant differences across the Nordic countries in the traditional portrayal of trolls?
There are great variations of how trolls are portrayed, but it is not primarily a matter of national literature. I will be focusing on Sweden and Norway, where I know the traditions best.
First, we ...
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7
votes
Accepted
Are Endymion and Hyperion by John Keats intended to be related pieces?
No. In fact, each poem has a closer relative within the corpus of Keats's work. There's also a stronger connection between "Endymion" and one of Shelley's poems that there is between the ...
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7
votes
Are man and woman like ash and elm? How?
I will start with question 3, as it is the most straightforward. Gaiman has done a whole lot of elaboration on a passage that is in fact rather short. I will quote the relevant passages from the ...
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7
votes
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Major differences between Norse epic poetry and English epic poetry
First, I'd like to note that my knowledge on English verse is not as good as of Norse. Thus I will start with a description of Norse verse, and then try to compare with what I know of English verse.
...
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6
votes
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How and why did the story of King Cnut change?
Summary
The post says, “The original account … uses it to illustrate Cnut’s humility.” But note that Henry of Huntingdon only wrote that Cnut was humble afterwards, not that he intended this ...
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6
votes
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Who is the 'pale Titan-woman' in Swinburne's 'Ave atque Vale'?
The general interpretation of this line is that it's an allusion to Baudelaire's poem La Géante (The Giantess).
From Walter Martin's translation in an omnibus edition:
When Mother Nature filled the ...
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5
votes
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What is the symbolism of the Western Wind (or Zephyr)?
In Greek mythology, Zephyr (or Zephyrus or Zephros) was the personification of the west wind. The west wind was the bringer of spring and early summer. He also served Cupid (because he fell in love ...
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5
votes
What are the other (aside from the Iliad) classical sources for the saga of Troy?
Collectively, the stories are called the Epic Cycle. They tell the whole story of the Trojan War, from the Judgment of Paris to the death of Odysseus. It includes the Iliad and the Odyssey (though the ...
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5
votes
Who is the 'pale Titan-woman' in Swinburne's 'Ave atque Vale'?
Swinburne’s ‘Ave atque Value’ (1868) is subtitled “In Memory of Charles Baudelaire”, who died in 1867. The poem contains allusions to a number of Baudelaire’s poems, and when looking for a “pale Titan-...
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5
votes
Why does Ishtar insist on being called "Ishtar"?
I think @Shokhet is probably correct in that it's likely a form of teasing/light antagonism, but, on further reflection, it probably goes deeper than that.
It is an older, less known name for Ishtar....
- 4,178
5
votes
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In Mary Tighe's Psyche, what is the gemstone referred to by allusion?
A figure in Greco-Roman mythology whose death was mourned by Phoebus/Apollo? That reminds me of Hyacinth:
One day, Apollo was teaching him the game of quoit. They decided to have a friendly ...
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4
votes
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How do the Silmarils solve the puzzle of the Sampo?
I believe Shippey meant that this may have been Tolkien's goal at the beginning, but like Tolkien's other "solutions" he seems to have abandoned it as the story grew in the telling.
Tolkien's conceit ...
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4
votes
What does it mean that different parts of humans are created by different gods?
The primary sources
Let us start with what the sources actually say they were given, and by whom. First, from Völuspá:
Mind they not own,
reflection they had not,
no vision nor cover
or colour ...
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4
votes
Accepted
What is the "black sphinx" in Greek magical papyrus IV?
The word σφίγξ was used not only for the mythological Sphinx, but also for a kind of monkey or ape. This animal is mentioned in a few ancient authors, but not with enough detail to identify the ...
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3
votes
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Unabridged version of the Alexander Romance
Difficulties in the question
There are a couple of points in the question where I suspect that it is misinterpreting the Wikipedia article on the Alexander Romance.
The question says, “Looking into ...
- 53.5k
3
votes
Who is the protagonist and antagonist in the myth of Creation of Seasons by Dene?
I agree with verbose's answer; this is a supplemental take on the question.
Disclaimer: I know nothing about Dene culture beyond what's in the story, so I'm making some assumptions here.
In many non-...
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votes
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Who is the protagonist and antagonist in the myth of Creation of Seasons by Dene?
The hunters at the start are not necessarily an entirely different group from the four at the end. There is no indication in the story that the four are entirely a different set from the hunters at ...
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3
votes
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What does it mean for Venus to 'read my case' in Drummond of Hawthornden's madrigal?
Venus and the rose
Bion’s ‘Lament for Adonis’ is the earliest surviving version of the myth of Adonis to mention the rose, and in this version Adonis’s blood becomes the rose:
‘Thou diest, oh thrice-...
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3
votes
Why does Ishtar insist on being called "Ishtar"?
You're overthinking it. As the 'great mother goddess', Ishtar is literally the 'many-named', the 'thousand-named', the 'myriad-named' and—while you can guess at why the character Morpheus goaded her ...
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2
votes
Why does Ishtar insist on being called "Ishtar"?
The reason for her insistence on the name Ishtar could be quite simple.
Belili is the name applied by the Canaanites (1) who were Hebrew, and had their own God. Astarte is the Hellenised form (2), ...
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2
votes
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Who is Gugalanna?
The Wikipedia contributors did a fairly decent job of gathering what little information is available about Gugalanna.
The only text in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) that ...
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2
votes
Children raised out of human society - ancient stories
How about the oldest known work of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100 BC)?
The legendary character of Enkidu is a "wild man", living with the beasts until he is seduced and tamed by ...
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1
vote
Children raised out of human society - ancient stories
This comes under the heading of history or social sciences, rather than literature. But:
Herodotus (c. 484 BC – c. 425 BC) relates, in his Histories (Book II), the story of Psammeticus (Psamtik I), ...
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What does it mean that different parts of humans are created by different gods?
I'm going to attempt an answer, based on my knowledge of mythology in general, and Classical mythology in particular, with the caveat that I'd redirect you towards Stack Mythology where the real Norse ...
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